Greening My Cleaning

Remember way back when I shared this pic of our linen closet?  See the bottom left...all of those trial sized bottles?  They're just Emerson's size, and therefore she believe it is her absolute duty to play with them as often as the linen closet is left ajar.  The only major problem with that is at the bottom of the closet I have all of our bathroom cleaning supplies.  We just don't have another place for them.

Needless to say this has caused me a great deal of concern over the past few months.  I had planned on changing my cleaning products out when they were all used, but after catching E in the linen closet one too many times, the time for action was upon me.

These are now the only cleaning products in our house (excluding baking soda & vinegar).  I cleaned everything else out & gave it to my gram.  I had already been using these 'green' products, but once these are gone I plan on switching exclusively to homemade cleaning products made from vinegar, baking soda, salt, or castile soap, & hydrogen peroxide (in my clorox bottle).  I plan on getting most of my recipes from Mrs. Dunwoody's book, but if you'd like a link, check out my cousin Tonya's cleaning blog. 

If you are thinking about moving toward green cleaning products it's certainly an easy change.  Environmentally friendly cleaning products are more widely available & have become much more potent  in recent years.  If you don't want to spend the extra money, or don't want to bring new cleaning bottles in to your home, consider making your own.  It is SUPER cheap, and to my mind there is nothing safer than some old fashioned vinegar & baking soda. 

If you do make the decision to abandon more traditional cleaning products DO NOT dump them down the drain!  Even if they are used consider donating them to a church or a non-profit.  Also consider a family member or neighbor with a fixed budget who might benefit from them.  Everyone can use all the help they can get in these strained financial times. 

Whatever you decision, if you've never tried one of the newer green cleaning products, be bold & give one a try.  It just might surprise you.